Guardian
by Moonshine 369
Summary: Light isn't going to let just anyone disrespect L. Not while he's around. L feels safe knowing he has a strong guardian, eternally nearby. Light x L friendship.


**Yeah well.  
I have to say I'm kind of iffy about the way this one came out. I feel like Light was pretty durn OOC. Oh well. **

**This one is dedicated to my friend Ben, or Fallenangelofaworldunknown, who would do absolutely anything for the sake of a friend. Your loyalty inspired me to complete this fic. Thanks. **

**In case it isn't clear, this is set after Light regains his memory. I don't like writing Light without his memory. He's such a little girl without them.**

**Death Note © Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata**

* * *

Light shoved his hands into his jacket pockets, shielding them from the chilly breeze that wound its way through the city. It was effectively helpful to not only protect his hands from the cold, but to also obscure the restricting metal handcuff that was snugly secured around his wrist.

Needless to say, seeing two men handcuffed to each other walking down the city like it was perfectly normal… well, it'd be hard not to wonder what was really going on. Light didn't exactly _want_ anyone wondering about his and L's relationship, because that would undoubtedly lead to the assumption of, well, a… _deeper_ relationship.

And no such relationship existed.

Light wished L would do the same, hide his handcuff from the critically observing passerby's on the street. However, L continued walking as if nothing was wrong, painfully happy, and painfully oblivious to the fact that _everyone_ was looking at them.

Okay, well, maybe not _everyone_. Maybe that was in Light's head. Either way, it made him uncomfortable.

"How much farther is this place?" Light asked gloomily, a childish pout plastered on his face. L had said that it was "Only a few blocks down." Thinking back, Light probably should've asked how many _a few_ was in L's terms. After all, L would do pretty much anything for a good sweet.

"Not much," L responded merrily. He'd somehow managed to persuade Light to accompany him (as if he had a choice) to a bakery with "cake and sweets that were perfect enough to satisfy any craving in the world." Obviously L was very fond of the place, and Light had thought that it would be nice to get out of Headquarters anyway. When Light had agreed, only faintly reluctant, he hadn't anticipated this. "You must admit, it's nice to be outside again."

"Funny," Light said, dryly. "I hadn't pegged you as the type to like being outdoors."

"Only when it's nice and cloudy, like this."

Light looked up at the overcast sky. Figures that L would like this-- there wasn't an ounce of sun flowing through the clouds. It looked like it could rain at any second. Of _course _L would like it.

An elderly couple passed the killer and the detective on the sidewalk. They held a conversation spoken in soft voices, barely audible. As the woman noticed Light and L, she stopped talking and stared at the two men, and then at the chain connecting L's hand and disappearing into Light's pocket. She looked away, as if ashamed on their part.

Light scowled, looking down at the sidewalk. He _really_ wished he had not come out today.

"Here we are," L chirped cheerfully, turning into a small store on the corner of the street, painted a sickeningly happy shade of blue. When he opened the door, the tinkling sound of a bell sounded. Light wanted to throw up.

The inside of the bakery was just as bad as the outside. The walls were painted the same happy blue, with thin stripes of... Light shuddered. _Pink._ Although small, the bakery fit a good ten or so small, round tables, and most of them had young couples sitting at them. There was a clear glass counter behind which lay delicacies and sweets of every kind imaginable. He could nearly _feel_ L's childish excitement rolling off of him in waves.

Light was dragged by L to the counter.

"Ryuuga! Nice to see you again," the young, dark haired, American-looking woman behind the counter said. Light grimaced. Of course people knew L here. He probably came here every day when he was in Japan.

"Hello, Savannah," L said.

"You know, we _just_ finished a batch of fudge, fresh out of the oven."

"Ooh!" L squealed like a six year old girl. "I'd definitely like some of that. Also, a slice of blueberry cheesecake, a brownie, a chocolate chip muffin..."

Light tuned L out as he continued the rest of his order. He probably knew the menu by heart. He was also probably ordering everything on it. Or two of everything on it.

Light was pulled out of his glassy eyed state of boredom when he heard a snickering sound coming from behind him. Was he imagining it, or was someone _laughing _at them? He was about to turn around when L's voice came back into his awareness.

"Light-kun? Anything for you?"

"Hm? Oh. A cup of coffee will be fine."

"Espresso, Cappuccino, White Chocolate, Mocha, Belgian, French, or--" Savannah began rattling off.

"Just... coffee. Would be fine," Light repeated impatiently.

"Alright," the young server said. She seemed put out that Light hadn't ordered anything extravagant. Did these people's lives revolve around sweets? The _expensive_ kind of sweets?

The woman disappeared behind the counter and returned with a large tray that she filled with the contents of L's vast order. Desserts of every kind went on until there was room for nothing else. The cashier, Savannah, handed Light the cup of black coffee. Light reached for his wallet, but L beat him to it, handing Savannah a large yen bill.

"Keep the change."

No wonder this girl liked L so much. Good business and a giant tip.

"Thank you, Ryuuga-kun!"

L waved off Savannah's bow, and led the reluctant Light to one of the small, cheery tables. He climbed onto the chair, sitting in that awkward position that baffled Light every time, and rubbed his hands together.

"Mmm," he hummed happily, leering at the junk food on this tray, clearly having a hard time deciding what to eat first. Resolved, he reached for his fork and plunged it into a slice of heavily whip creamed cake with a strawberry on top.

Light emptied two packets of sugar into his coffee and stirred it, eyeing L as if he might explode at any moment.

"Heh, heh. Look at that _hair_! Ever heard of a brush? Hel_lo_!" an obnoxiously loud, preppy sounding female voice snickered from a nearby table.

L finished the cake and began pulling the wrapper off of a chocolate cupcake. Light stirred his coffee, only briefly considering that the girl could be talking about _his_ hair. He shook said hair out of his eyes. Of course not.

"He looks like a hermit," another voice said. This time, it sounded like an arrogant frat boy.

"He looks like a _rapist_! Look at his _eyes_! Is he wearing eyeliner?" the same female voice cried, with no attempt to disguise her very obvious distaste.

Light was only briefly irritated by the volume of the couple, but didn't put much thought into it. They had a right to talk, didn't they? Besides, they were probably talking about someone else. Light took a sip of his coffee, watching L as he licked the icing off of the cupcake.

"Look at the way he's sitting," the male voice said.

Light looked up from his coffee to L, and L stopped licking, not taking his eyes off of the sugary treat.

Light studied the detective's face, waiting for a reaction—anger? sadness? embarrassment? Instead, L took another lick of icing. "This is delicious," he shared.

"I'm kind of scared to be in here," the female said. "I'm scared he's going to try to molest me."

"Ryuzaki—"

"It's nothing, Light-kun."

"Don't worry, babe," the male voice said vainly. "I'd be able to take him. I could knock him over with my pinky."

"Ryuzaki—" Light tried again.

"I'm used to it, Light," L insisted.

Light frowned. "You don't have to put up with it. We could always go somewhere else."

"But my sweets are _here_," L pointed out, taking a bite of his cupcake to demonstrate, and Light remained silent. He could only hear snippets of the couple's conversation.

"… White as a stone…"

"…Scary as hell…"

"…Should buy him a _comb_!"

"…Too scared he'd try to rape me…"

As if controlled by some unknown force, Light's muscles worked against him, standing up with a jerk and rearing around to face the young couple so quickly that he caused the table to rumble, and L's sweets to quiver.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

The couple looked only a few years younger than Light. The girl looked sixteen or so, and the boy, maybe eighteen. They even _looked_ like the type of immature, rude people who'd talk like that—about someone who was only a few yards away. They were both blondes: the girl was wearing a very low cut shirt that revealed far more than necessary, and the boy, a varsity football jacket.

"Who are _you_?" the girl demanded, without skipping a beat.

Light opened his mouth to say something, but didn't exactly know how to respond to that. He could hear L sighing his disapproval from behind him, and could now _feel_ the eyes of the rest of the bakery on his back.

"Oh look—they're lovers!" The boy said, pointing to the handcuff.

"Wow, talk about _kinky_," the girl said smugly. Light felt himself blushing slightly.

"You can shut the hell up about things you have no clue about. Besides, you don't even know him—what gives you the right to talk about him like that?" Light saw L cocking his head curiously out of the corner of his eye.

"Hey! Don't talk to her like that!" The boy stood from his own table and bared his fist, as if he'd actually do anything to hurt Light.

Light blinked, letting a blank, bored expression slip into play on his face. "Would you rather I talked to _you_ like that?"

"Sirs!" Savannah cried, sounding hassled, from behind the counter. "I must ask that you take this debate elsewhere! This bakery is a haven for _peace_, not anger. Please—"

"Come on, Tsukune," the girl said, impatiently, standing up and staring at Light with wide eyes. "Let's just go."

The boy dropped down into his chair, stubbornly. "Nope."

Light wished he had his Death Note on him. "Maybe you'd like to take the advice of your prostitute, just this once," he said, instead.

The boy stood and attempted to make a punch at Light. If it weren't for his girlfriend grabbing his hand, he would've succeeded. Savannah gave a small yelp from behind the counter that was soon followed by a sigh of relief when she realized the boy's girlfriend had prevented any bloodshed.

"Light—"

Light groaned, mortified at the fact that L was speaking up. _Damn detective. Doesn't he know when to shut up?_

The boy looked at Light smugly.

"Maybe you'd like to take the advice of your homosexual rapist playmate." He said. "Just this once."

L was not fast enough to stop Light from punching him.

* * *

The injured boy's girlfriend declined L's card, which he offered "in the case that any hospital bills should be due." She said that she didn't want anything to do with the violent, rash teenager or the 'homosexual rapist.' With a glare in Light's direction, she escorted her boyfriend, who was clenching a bandaged jaw that very well may have been broken, out of the door when the first opportunity to do so appeared.

Savannah had aged five years. Her hair was tousled and she looked extremely harassed. It wasn't until the couple were safely out of the door that she allowed herself to sit. The rest of the diners had fled the scene, trying to escape any drama.

"Ryuuga…" she started.

"I'd like to apologize, Savannah-san, for any inconvenience we have caused. In addition to that—"

Savannah gave him a look that clearly said, "Oh, _really_?" But instead of being impolite, or straightforwardly so, at least, Savannah shook her head. "That's alright. Just one less couple I'll have to deal with. But I really have to ask you to go…" she took in L's expression, and then re-assorted her statement, this time more politically correct. "That is, I need to clean up this place for closing, is all. Oh, what am I going to tell mother?"

As Savannah pondered what kind of punishment she'd receive from her mother, probably the owner of the bakery, Light pointedly avoided L's eyes as he stole a glance at him. The murder suspect was slouching very slightly, which was definitely a rare act for him. He had his arms crossed over his chest, and was avoiding Savannah's and L's eyes. A blasé expression was plastered on his face.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" L offered.

"No, I'll be alright. I just need to clean up this mess… I'll be fine."

Upon being punched, the rude boy promptly toppled right on top of the old table behind him, and the single leg gave way, breaking it and one of the legs off of the chair behind it in the process. Light had done far more damage than he'd intended.

"If you're sure…"

"Oh, I am, Ryuuga-san. Thank you for your offer, though."

L turned to leave. Light uncrossed his arms, clumsily due to the handcuffs, bowed quickly to Savannah (whom he currently, though silently, respected for not having pressed charges), and followed L – as if he had a choice – out of the bakery.

They were greeted by darkness. How long had they been in there? To Light, it had seemed like an eternity.

"Ah—my sweets," L frowned, turning his head only slightly back in the direction of the now gloomy-looking bakery.

"Ryuzaki," Light said, curtly, reminding him of the task at hand: getting back to head quarters in one piece.

The murderer and the detective walked in silence for another few moments.

Light felt his hands clenching into fists in his pockets. Why couldn't L _say_ anything? Light didn't even know what he expected him to say – "Thank you"? "That was foolish"? Even "I'm never taking you out in public again, Light-kun," would be satisfying, but L remained silenced. How long could they continue like this? Would they both go on, acting as if nothing had happened?

The both of them spoke simultaneously.

"Light-kun—"

"Ryuzaki—"

They looked at each other, catching eyes for a fraction of a second, and then both looked down at the sidewalk before them. A tiny smile danced on L's lips.

"Yes?" he said, pleasantly, putting Light in the spotlight.

Light grunted, refusing to look up from his feet. "That was really stupid of me. I acted on impulse."

The dancing smile now shone through brilliantly. L opened his mouth to reply, but Light cut him off.

"And…"

L closed his mouth, waiting for Light to finish his statement.

"And I'm sorry." Light looked away childishly.

"That's absurd," L said, causing Light's eyes to dart back to him. "Why would you ever be sorry for that?"

"For embarrassing you in your own niche?" Light offered. "For fighting your battles? I don't know—take your pick."

"Have you seen me, Light-kun? A person like me can't afford to embarrass easily." He looked at Light knowingly. "And besides. That was the first time anyone's ever bothered to defend me." L hesitated, as if unsure how to continue, or conclude his testimony. "Thank you, Light-kun."

* * *

L watched Light almost curiously as the younger boy's cheeks pinkened and he looked away from the sleuth, enjoying his reaction.

Light had punched someone on his behalf. On _L's_ behalf. It was truly something to ponder, to remember.

It was truly a foolish thing to do. Especially considering how worthless L was.

It was also a very Kira-like thing to do. Act immaturely and out of spite, and haste. But L didn't care to tally it, or even remember that fact.

After all, Kira or not, L couldn't help but feel safe and protected with such a powerful guardian right beside him.

* * *

**This was kind'a posted out of haste because I have to get off the computer. So feel free to let me know of any grammatical flaws-- but like I said above, I'm perfectly aware that Light's OOC. Thanks for reading!**


End file.
